Project
1990
Client
City of Campione d’ItaliaSite
area
15’000 m²Net floor area
63’550 m²
Volume
237’830 m³
General dimensions
100 x 70 m, height 70 m
The area for the new Municipal Casino and its corollary services is positioned next to the historical centre, at the foot of the hill where the town rises. In this geographical context the lot, which extends from the hill to the lakeside, shows an unusual territorial articulation with respect to the alignment of the lakeside infrastructures, oriented quite differently at this point. The area is thus a place where diverse …

Azzano di Seravezza, Lucca, Italy
Design 2001
Construction 2002
The new funerary chapel is set in the small cemetery of San Martino presso Cappella in Azzano di Seravezza, in Tuscany’s historic Versilia district. It is at the foot of mount Altissimo, famous for its impressive marble quarries that were appreciated by no less than Michelangelo. The funerary shrine is aligned with the entrance to the twentieth-century extension of the cemetery and backs up to the wall at the foot of the mountain. Extremely austere in form, the chapel is set on a base …

Locarno-Cardada, Switzerland
Design 2000
Construction 2002
The two weekend houses are located in Colma-nicchio on Mount Cardada, a village that is part of the municipal district of Locarno. Situated over 1,000 metres above Lake Verbano, the area is easily accesible via the Orselina-Cardada cableway or conventional footpaths. The plans called for construction two separate volumes set at the estern edge of Colmanicchio. Siting was inspired by the strategic position of the terrain, and in addition to the two main bodies there are also two panoramic terraces offering a three-quarters view of the countryside. …

Athens, Greece
Competition design 1998
Construction 1999-2001
with Irena Sakellaridou, Morpho Papanikolaou and Maria Pollani
The architect was commissioned to construct the new headquarters of the National Bank of Greece in Athens after a competition in 1998 marking the centennial of the bank’s headquarters. The site for the new building is adjacent to the main headquarters in the historic district of Athens and holds important archaeological findings. The winning design proposed the creation of a void on the ground floor of the new headquarters to dispaly the artefacts and emphasise the public nature of …

Jerusalem, Israel
Design 1995
Construction 2001
The plans for Noah’s Ark came about during a historic moment marred by threats, Palestinian suicide bombers and retaliation by the Israeli army. It is telling that between the time the idea was developed and the Ark’s completion, Israel changed prime minister three times. Visits to the construction site were thus influenced by the problems caused by the state of siege of a troubled country.
The project for Noah’s Ark was sparked by the profound friendship between Mario Botta and Niki de Saint Phalle. Both viewed the idea …

Parma, Italy
Design 1986-96
Construction 2001
The project acknowledges the “unfinished” condition of the Pilotta’s current structure, in agreement with the Department for Architectural and Environmental Heritage and the technical offices of the municipal government, as this is a condition of enormous interest and a hallmark within the modern-day city. The complexity of the numerous historical strata that distinguish the site as a whole represents “memory” that must be safeguarded and reproposed through new uses. The project pinpointed parts of this historical evidence that were to be valorised to a greater extent than …